Absentee ballots pose legal questions for Avon Lake

SHEFFIELD TOWNSHIP -- The Lorain County Board of Elections will meet at 4 p.m. today to discuss the legality of sending out absentee ballots for Avon Lake's mayoral run-off election before election results are officially certified on Nov. 28.

The Avon Lake City Charter requires a mayoral candidate to receive at least 50 percent of the votes in order to win an election, something none of the three candidates achieved during the Nov. 8 election.

That puts Mayor Karl Zuber and Councilman Gregory Zilka in the run-off on Dec. 6. Zuber received 40.63 percent of the vote and Zilka, 39.7 percent of the votes with the third candidate, Robert Berner, getting 19.66 percent, according to unofficial results.

Board director Paul Adams said the board will get information from the Avon Lake's law director and the county prosecutor's office at the meeting to use to determine how to proceed.

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"This is new territory for us and we want to make sure we move forward properly since this is the first time this has ever happened in Lorain County," Adams said.

North Ridgeville is the only other community whose City Charter includes a provision for a run-off election, according to Adams,

The Dec. 6 run-off election is estimated to cost Avon Lake between $20,000 to $35,000, said Adams. The cost covers all expenses to the county for poll operations. A large part of the cost is paying 75 to 80 poll workers to cover Avon Lake's 17 precincts at seven polling locations, he said.

"The county fronts the money, but the city is charged for it in the future," he said. The election's cost will be withheld from the city's property tax revenue, he said.

If it is determined that early ballots will not pose an issue, absentees ballots could be sent out as early as Monday, Adams said.

Otherwise, absentee ballots will not be sent out until after certification, slightly more than a week before the special election is held.

"Either way the absentee voting period is much smaller than it would be if we were having a regular election," he said.

Adams said voters can request an absentee ballot from the elections board website or by calling the office at 440-326-5900.

"I would encourage them to request a ballot now," he said. "We are talking a very short window here."